From the Sideline Archive - 2008/9 Season

Club Chairman Paul Cartwright gets to spout off about whatever takes his fancy with his new regular column!

23rd February 2009

Issue six

The old expression "its just a game" couldn't be further from the truth after the last couple of weeks. For the U14's team it has been a real struggle to either get a game on, or when we do - to be able to lift ourselves competitively. Today they played out of their skins against the best team in the league, but were still unable to get the result they deserved. After the game I was a bit upset - not because of the result but because this bunch of girls have been so loyal, coming to training week after week, working hard, yet just not being able to get the results they so evidently deserve. Our U12's team have also been on the losing end recently, though it seems to me more often then not that we lose more because of the size of our players then their skill levels. There have been some matches this season were we have played absolutely fantastic - passing the ball, moving well - in fact, just playing great football. Again I feel they deserve to be a bit higher up the league but I'm sure their time will come.

Away from matches I have been reminded just how important our role is as a coach or team manager. One of our players was having some difficulties at school and to see her in tears over it was a great shame. For her to be able to talk through her problems is a reflection that we are more then just there to demonstrate the Cruff turn, but to be a social worker and a friend. This friendship was brought home again today when Elle came over and gave me a hug after scoring her goal - the pain and the pleasure - we see it all.

Talking of pain and pleasure, some of you will by now have heard that Mandi and I are going to have a baby. At 41 I was more then a little surprised, but as you can imagine am over the moon. It will mean some changes to our responsbilities next season, but I can't wait to bring our child along to support the teams at Dynamo GFC, our first Dynamo baby!!! Thank you as always for your support.

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14th December 2008

Issue five

It's been a tough couple of months for the girls as both training and matches have been somewhat disrupted by the weather. This is but to be expected at this time of the year, but it can break up the continuity of the girls play. We are making contingency plans for next year as in January we will be running an indoor training session every Wednesday night in Peacehaven. The session will be designed to support the main Saturday sessions and will be particularly useful if the main session is called off due to the weather. We are also hoping that the indoor sessions will enable us to recruit more players and as always I would like all players (and their parents) to do all they can to encourage girls to join the club. Remember that we take players from the age of 6 and are still keen to get a ladies team off the ground so please get signing up!

This time of the year is always one for reflection, looking back at the highs and lows of the last 12 months. Whilst the club suffered some set backs in particular losing our oldest age group and having to say goodbye to players who had been with us since we started, it's also had some major successes including the club house, our second tournament and the ongoing achievements of all of our players. What is nice is that even players who have moved on still remember us. I recently bumped into one such player, Lucy, who was with us in our first couple of seasons. It was great to see her and a reminder that no matter what length of time a player is with us, the positive impact that playing a team sport has on an individual is immeasurable.

Finally, next Saturday will be our annual Christmas party. This year, due to the difference in ages of all our players we have decided to do something a little different and the club is paying for all the players to go ten pin bowling. It should be a great fun way to end the year. Thank you all for your marvellous support during 2008 and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and may 2009 bring you all you desire.

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9th November 2008

Issue Four

Refereeing - Part Two

This Saturday it was a pleasure to hold a brief training session for some of our parents on the subject of refereeing the mini soccer game. I will be organising another one for an evening event shortly so those unable to attend have another chance. What it highlighted was some of the best practices that can be adopted in order to allow a simple game of football to take place without problems. What a shame it was then to witness a rather poor display of refereeing at one match this weekend. I'm not going to name names, because the point of this article is not to blame, but more to highlight the frustration poor standards in our game have on those watching and more importantly particapting in the match.

There were three instances to highlight. The first was the taking of throw-ins. In all my years involvement with mini soccer, I have rarely seen many well taken throws. They are often rushed, usely because of the enthusiasm of the player involved. All I suggest to referees is if you are going to penalise a player for a poor throw - you need to explain why and give them a chance to take it again correctly. You also have to use common sense or otherwise the game will be stopped repeatedly for an offence that rarely changes the course of the game. You also have to be extremely consistant!

The second instance was a clear hand ball. The player knew she had handled the ball, the opposition knew she had handled the ball yet the referee didn't stop play. I couldn't for the life of me work out why - there was no advantage or disadvantage to either team as it happened in the middle of the pitch, but it sent out a confusing message to the players. The final instance was a back pass to the keeper - again a decision that should have been a clear free kick, again the referee was in doubt as to what to do.

My purpose of this article is not to criticise, merely to draw attention that we need to ensure games at the entry level of football are "well managed". The players need to learn from what they are doing, being able to develop and overall the game needs to be fair. Luckily none of the instances above affected the outcome of the game, what it did do though was highlight questions about the state of the game in general and that if we want to command respect - we need to respect the game.

What I would like to commend is this weekends Remembrance silence observed by all teams. It's a moving experience to stand at the side of the pitch in silence with the wind whispering through the trees and taking just a moment to reflect on the amazing sacrifices that took place 90 years ago this week. We should all realise just how lucky we are.

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2nd November 2008

Issue Three

Refereeing - Part One

It's always a pleasure to referee one of the mini soccer matches as it acts as a good measure of how we perform as a club from a "Respect" point of view. I was surprised that this weekend the mini soccer pitch was being used for a match despite the fact that it was waterlogged - an unbelievable situation that could have at worst resulted in a serious injury to a player, at best has caused serious damage to the pitch for the remainder of the season. We chose to mark out a temporary mini soccer pitch on one of the full sized pitches - perfectly legal within the rules of the game, and perfectly sensible from a playing point of view.

I am pleased that our parents' behaviour was superb. In this day and age, too often parents can spoil the match for the players, but on this occasion they respected the game - well done and thank you. One point I will pick up on is that occasionally I see parents (both our own and the opposition's) smoking on the sideline. This is totally inappropiate and if you can't prevent yourself from sparking up - please do so well away from where the girls are playing.

This season the FA have launched a RESPECT campaign, which is designed to improve players, parents and officials behaviour. More information about this can be found elsewhere on the website, but we will be organising an evening for the parents to hear more about this important campaign. One key change which we will be introducing shortly is a designated area for parents of both teams to support their players from, and a seperate area for the coaches and team managers. When this is introduced, please give your support to this policy wholeheartedly.

Finally, next weekend is Remembrance Sunday and an opportunity for everyone involved with the club to pay their respects for those who gave their life for this country in two world wars and other conflicts since then. I urge you all to wear a poppy next Sunday and the players and supporters will be asked to mark the occasion with a 2 minute silence before the start of their matches.

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21st September 2008

Issue Two

The season is underway and what a crazy first couple of weeks it has been!

Firstly the disappointing news that we have had to drop our oldest age group. With four players leaving at the end of last season, a couple more not signing up during the summer - we only had five signed up and unfortunately had to release them to other teams. In doing so we have also had to say goodbye to Steve Walder who will be unable to continue coaching. Steve was a great addition to the coaching staff and I would like to thank him for all his hard work. A massive thank you also to the players who have moved on, I wish them all success with their new clubs, but hopefully we will see them back again one day - maybe in our senior team....

We are also having difficulties getting a full team for our new U11 team, and to date have not been unable to fulfill any fixtures. Hopefully this situation will be resolved shortly, but as always, if you have any mates keen to play then get them along to a training session.

For our U12 and U14 teams its been business as usual. For some bizzare reason the league decided to have a midweek fixture so both teams have played three times in one week. Congratulations to new manager Mandi as the U12's are top of their league tonight. The U14's have had some difficult games away so far, but are steadily improving.

We will shortly be making some changes to the coaching structure, so watch this space!

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2nd August 2008

Issue One

I hope all our players and parents have enjoyed a bit of a break from football, but this week we return to pre-season training for our youth players plus have a kick about on a Friday afternoon for the junior age groups. I haven’t had a break all summer (aaah!) as this has been a crucial period as we face up to some of the difficulties all clubs do this time of year – players moving on. We lost four players from last season U15’s which was a great shame as it has put pressure on that age group for this season. We are not the only team to be suffering but I and other members of the Committee are putting a lot of effort into promoting the Club, meeting the County FA and talking with potential new signings.

On a more positive note, ground works have started today for our new Clubhouse which will be delivered next Friday. It’s been hard work getting to this point and I for one can’t wait to clear my garage of goals, balls and other club kit that has been residing there for the last couple of years! Having a Clubhouse gives us a real focal point for training and matches and I urge all of you to make use of it when you visit the ground.

Finally, I have decided over the summer months that this will be my last year as Club Chairman and at the end of the season I will be stepping down from the club’s committee. Since the formation of the club I don’t think a day has gone by when I haven’t had to deal with some aspect of the clubs activities and as a result the bit I really enjoy – coaching the players – has in some ways been affected. I hope that during the year one of our existing parents will consider taking on the role and leading the club forward. This season will be another busy one for me as it looks as if I will be running the U14 team again. I look forward to this challenge with relish as I am convinced that both with this and other teams this will be a highly successful season.

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'Sideline' Archive

Check out previous season's ramblings using the links below

2007/8 season